Slick Rick

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Slick Rick
Origin	London, UK
Years active	1985 – Present
Genres	Hip hop

Richard Walters (born January 14, 1965), better known by stage names Slick Rick, MC Ricky D and The Ruler, is a rapper. Originally from South Wimbledon, London, England, he moved with his family to The Bronx in 1975 where he met B-Weezy who taught him how to rap. He has always credited "B" from St. Louis for his success with his career. Rick's characteristic eyepatch was acquired after being blinded in the right eye by broken glass as an infant. He is best known for a series of rap recordings during the 1980s, including "Children's Story" and "La Di Da Di".

[edit] Biography

Charlie Rock of Harlem World crew was instrumental in bringing Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh together when Doug requested an introduction after he had seen him win local MC battle contests. It was at an MC contest at the 369 Armory on 142nd street in Harlem, given by promotion partners Ray Chandler & Charlie Rock, that Rick & Doug were formally introduced by Rock.

As a 20-year-old in the summer of 1985 he scored his first big hits (with Doug E. Fresh), "La Di Da Di" and "The Show."

[edit] Musical history

Slick Rick released the song "La Di Da Di" back in the early 1980s which features Doug E. Fresh and the Get Fresh Crew. It was the first rap song to be covered in Hiphop (Snoop Doggy Dogg "Doggy Style" 1993 Deathrow Records).^{[citation needed]} His first album The Great Adventures of Slick Rick was released in 1988 while he was living in New York City. "Children's Story", which appears on The Great Adventures of Slick Rick, is one of the most famous songs in rap and has been covered by Black Star, Black Rob, Everlast, Messy Marv, Tricky's side project Nearly God, UK rapper Ramson Badbones, Björk, and Japanese rapper Zeebra. "Children's Story" was also featured on the videogame: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on Playback FM, a classic hiphop station. The album attained platinum status, but Rick was unable to exploit this due to an arrest for attempted murder.

He shot a bystander and his cousin whom he’d hired as a body guard and who later admitted to having Walters shot outside a club in 1991. Russell Simmons, head of Def Jam records, bailed him out and Rick quickly recorded The Ruler's Back before spending five years in prison, two for the second degree (self-defense) attempted murder charges he received for that shooting, and three while hassling with Immigrations Services over his residency in the US.

"La Di Da Di", "Mona Lisa" and "Children's Story" are among his best known songs, with "La Di Da Di" being covered nearly word-for-word by Snoop Dogg on his 1993 album Doggystyle, and lines from "La Di Da Di" being borrowed by multiple high profile artists. "Children's Story" was also sampled by Montell Jordan for his 1995 hit, "This Is How We Do It".

A third album Behind Bars was recorded whilst still in prison, and released to lukewarm sales and reviews. Released from prison in 1998, he remained with Def Jam and on May 25, 1999 released a fourth album, entitled The Art of Storytelling, generally considered the authentic follow up to his 1988 debut. The album featured Nas, OutKast, Raekwon from the Wu-Tang Clan, Snoop Dogg, Kid Capri, Canibus, and Doug E. Fresh, and received mixed reviews, writers citing the amount of skits, guest spots, and sometimes bland production as diluting the Slick Rick sound.

In June 2002, after performing on a Caribbean cruise ship, Rick was arrested by the then INS as he re-entered the United States through Florida. He was promptly told that he was being deported because he is a British citizen; since he had been born in London and moved to the States as a youth. In 1996, a law was passed which called for foreigners convicted of violent felonies to be deported, a ruling which was more vigorously enforced amid heightened security concerns after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Rick was continuously refused bail, but after 17 months in prison he was released on November 7, 2003.

Rumors suggested that Rick planned to release a new album, "The Adventure Continues," in 2007. However, in a recent XXL Magazine interview, he denied the claim. Rick is supposedly "waiting for a market to open up for a [more] mature audience".

In October 2006, the INS began a new attempt to deport Walters, moving the case from the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit based in New York to the more conservative Eleventh Circuit. The court is based in Atlanta, Georgia but the trial is expected to proceed in Florida, where INS agents originally arrested Walters.

He's been rumored to make appearances on future albums from Chamillionaire as well as eMC in 2007.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Album cover	Album information
	The Great Adventures of Slick Rick Released: May 2, 1988 Billboard 200 chart position: #31 R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #1 Singles: "Mona Lisa", "Teenage Love", "Children's Story" & "Hey Young World"
	The Ruler's Back Released: July 2, 1991 Billboard 200 chart position: #29 R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #18 Singles: "Mistakes Of A Woman" & "I Shouldn't Have Done It"
	Behind Bars Released: November 22, 1994 Billboard 200 chart position: #51 R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #11 Singles: "It's A Boy", "Behind Bars" & "Sittin' In My Car"
	The Art of Storytelling Released: May 25, 1999 Billboard 200 chart position: #8 R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #1 Singles: "We Turn It On" & "Street Talkin'"
	The Adventure Continues Released: 2007 Billboard 200 chart position: TBA R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: TBA Singles: TBD

[edit] Trivia

• In 2004, "Children's Story" appeared in the popular video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, on classic hip hop radio station Playback FM. The song was also featured on the True Crime: New York City soundtrack.
• Slick Rick makes a backstage appearance on Jay-Z's Fade to Black DVD.
• He made a cameo in Ludacris's music video for the single, "Number One Spot."
• Once he gained a degree of wealth, he earned a reputation for wearing an enormous amount of gold and diamond jewelry, including many large necklaces with giant pendants, bracelets, huge rings on each finger, and gold teeth.[1]
• He can be seen wearing his excessive jewellery in the New York Shit music video (2:56) by Busta Rhymes featuring Swizz Beatz.
• Said to have lost up to 40 pounds serving time in prison.^{[citation needed]}
• Was featured as a "Guest Vocalist" on WWF The Music, Vol. 5, appearing on the last track titled "Pie" with The Rock.
• He also was the singer of The Godfather's theme song "Pimpin' Ain't Easy".
• Slick Rick did the vocals for the Morcheeba song "Women Lose Weight".
• He also plays himself in the game Def Jam: Fight for NY.
• He appeared as a drug kingpin in the 1999 movie Whiteboyz, co-starring fellow rappers Doug E. Fresh, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Fat Joe, Dead Prez and Mic Geronimo.
• Made a cameo in the film Brown Sugar, which starred Taye Diggs and Sanaa Lathan.
• Slick appeared in Will Smith's single "So Fresh" featuring DJ Jazzy Jeff & Biz Markie. Slick raps a verse again from his song "La Di Da Di".
• Slick was featured on the song Guidance Counselor on the album Fome Is Dape from Little-T And One Track Mike
• He is referred to in Amy Winehouse's "Me & Mr Jones (Fuckery)" from "Back to Black", in the lyrics, "What kind of fuckery is this? You made me miss the Slick Rick gig (Oh, Slick Rick)".

[edit] External links

• All Music Guide's biography
  • MTV's mirror of the above
• Release of Slick Rick
• Slick Rick "The Ruler's" Fansite:Lyrics, Videos and More
• Slick Rick fansite
• Slick Rick Article